File E/8 I Ibn Sa‘ud [‎105r] (224/606)

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No. 1070 (Confidential), dated Bushir- the mw - ^
s . g , E!1m J E Sh ": lt "'k ("-'ed tt. m, April, 19U.
To-The Foreign Secretary to the G ^ 1118 1 ReSldent ln the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. '
Department, gimia. over nment of India in the Foreign and Political
J 914 ' 1 haye tie
the Pohtioal Agent at Kuwait, to my addteaa wLl : "l 7 "' A P ril . 19 W. horn
attempt of the Ottoman anthoriMJat f** 68 ' » re ««d to the
Sa ud. <tL • Dasrail t0 enter mto negotiation with Bin
N0 ' C "" 12 (ConfideiltiaI )t dated Kuwait, the 7th April, 1914
to report farther on
2 - - sis^m
ing for advice. The Shaikh asked mp wli^f 6 0 f Ic ^ ^f ent ft Bahrain and ask-
Bin Sa'ud should be told to continue tj act S pn f + 0 .# 1V f- 1 said that
to him by Major Trevor, Um ^S ^ for ^
His Excellency then told me clearly that what Bin Sa'ud desired wa? the
^.■r" 01 aS ^ 0SSUred t0 the Shaikh 01 K™ 14 under the recent Ansrhv
Tu k sh Agreement, OTS., autonomy with British protection under Turkish
suzeramty, and added that, in h« opinion, any other aLngement wodd riSt S
endless trouble in the future for the Arabs, for the Turks, and for o sf w
rephed that the question had been referred to His Majesty's OovermSTand
tha,t Bin Sa ud s best chance of obtaining a solution which would be
to himself would be implicitly to adhere to the instructions which he had revived
To this Sir Mubarak agreed. xeoeived.
m t, 3 ' . F ^ h . e r letters also arrived yesterday from the Wali of Basrah and Saiyid
Tahb in which Sir Mubarak was informed that the Ottoman Government had
signihed their intention of conferring upon him and upon Sir Khazal Khan of
Muhammerah the decoration of the Osmanieh in the first class, and the Wali
expressed a wish to come to Kuwait for the purpose of investing Sir Mubarak
with the insignia thereof. His Excellency asked me what I thought of this I
replied that as he_ had already expressed to the Turks his regret at not being
able to act as an intermediary in their negotiations with Bin Sa'ud he need feel
no awkwardness in accepting this mark of favour at their hands. He remarked
that the presence of the Wali of Basrah in Kuwait at the present moment would
be likely to lead to misunderstandings, as his object would certainly be to use
this place as a base from whence to carry on negotiations with Bin Sa'ud and
asked whether it would not be better for him to borrow my launch—his own beino-
hors de combat at present—and proceed to Fao for the investiture, explaining
to the Wali that this course would save him trouble and the inconvenience of
prolonging his journey. I can see nothing objectionable in this proposal from
the local point of view, but it appears better that I should ask yoa to telegraph
to the Government of India asking whether for any reason it would be well to
allow the Wali to come to Kuwait, and if you see no objection I hope you will
do this and ask for a reply at their earliest convenience.
4. I append a translation of a letter recently written by Bin Sa'ud to Saiyid
Talib from which it will be seen that he has no intention at present of entering
into any agreement with the Turks. He is now some distance north of Eiyadh,
but his advance is not intended as a hostile demonstration.
5. In letter No. 39902-13, dated 2nd October last, from His Majesty's Foreign
Office to India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. , it is stated that Hakki Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , in thanking His Majesty's
Government on behalf of the Porte for their friendly offer of good offices in the